The demilitarization of rocket motors, warheads, munitions, mines, bombs and other instruments of warfare containing solid explosives and other energetic materials typically involves size reduction of the solid energetic material. This size reduction facilitates subsequent disposal or recycling. In the past, size reduction has been carried out with the aid of copious amounts of liquid. The liquid typically was used for one or more purposes, such as a solvent, a cutting or transporting medium, or a cooling medium. While this has been widely demonstrated and used for size reduction, the liquid becomes a contaminant in the resulting particulate product. In addition, the energetic material contaminates the liquid. The contaminated liquids, after use in size reduction process, accordingly typically require special handling and disposal techniques.